Ghost Festival
by catherine01
Summary: "Months after choosing to end his life in the embrace of his parents, Sasori wanders bleakly in the afterlife, reflecting whether his decision was right. Seeing the pretty pink-haired kunoichi smiling in a festival with the blond jinchuuriki erased his doubts." Short one-shot. Platonic SasoSaku. No real plot, mainly focused on Sasori's thoughts.


**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs entirely to our legendary mangaka, Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Italicized words are flashbacks from Sasori and Sakura's fight._

**Ghost Festival**

Sasori didn't know why he was in this place. He walked mindlessly through the unending pitch-black woods, thinking that if this was what they call hell, then it wasn't very different from when he was alive.

Inside, he had long been dead.

It had been a few months since he decided to end his life, and for some time he had been thinking if his decision was right. Sure, he finally attained an eternal form that was his definition of art. But since he already achieved his ultimate goal, there was nothing else to do. There was literally nothing in the afterlife that he hadn't seen before and he had been doing the same thing every day, pacing aimlessly and lurking through the shadows like the sly and invisible spirit that he was.

He trudged ahead with nothing but a faint sense of purpose to fill the void in his soul that he had long buried with hundreds and thousands of hollow puppet creations. But all he had was a mere spark in the shadows. He was already fading into nothingness.

And then it happened, an explosion of colors, illuminating the endless expanse of darkness he was accustomed to. After months of utter oblivion, Sasori found himself in a festival. It was still night time, but the place was teemed with people, the stalls decorated with all kinds of food and vibrant lanterns. Again, he didn't know why he was there. For all his genius he had yet to understand how the afterlife system works. He noticed an important detail though, the distinction between the living and the dead.

He then realized it wasn't an ordinary festival. Countless spirits were milling about the area, mostly looking as confused and lost as he was. Their clothes were unique from each other but normal, for it was what they wore when they died, Sasori thought to himself, still wearing his akatsuki cloak. All of these contrasted with the overflowing warmth and excitement emanating from the other group, clad in their kimonos and best dresses.

One pink haired girl stood amidst the buzzing crowd, and Sasori recognized her directly_. _How could he forget the fervent girl who, together with his grandmother Chiyo, defeated him, a highly experienced S-class missing-nin? Though he chose to die himself, he still acknowledged the girl's strength, passion, and above all, her selflessness.

He lingered a good distance away, observing and taking it all in. She was wearing a dark blue kimono designed with cherry blossoms and a red obi, befitting her pink locks which were properly pinned in a simple bun.

Somehow, Sasori found it hard to believe that this was the same audacious kunoichi who willingly took the blow from his lethal katana and sacrificed her own life to save a stranger.

"Your treat Naruto! Let's get some ikayaki...and choco-banana!"

Said kunoichi jumped from each stall to the next, oblivious of the blond boy trailing helplessly behind her, whom Sasori recognized was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"Sakura-chan, wait a second. I'm already broke-"

"I smell Yakisoba! And Takoyaki!"

Who would have thought that this smiling, carefree glutton of a girl could break even his sturdiest puppets into pieces with a single fist?

Sasori grew more curious. He slowly paced towards the two teenagers who were now playing uncaringly with some water balloons. _Is she able to see, or even feel him_? He was not a patient man, so he readily approached them, when Sakura stared in his direction as if on cue.

"Candy apples!" She muttered, smiling ceaselessly, as she easily passed by the perplexed Sasori.

He stopped dead in his tracks. The last time he had seen her up close, her eyes weren't crinkled in happiness. During that battle, she had stared at him with cold, angry emerald eyes. She had punched him in the face and spat at him for wanting to kill his own grandmother.

"_What do you think human life is? What is family to you?!"_

"_Is that the way a shinobi should talk?" _He had replied incredulously with wide, unbelieving eyes.

Emotions get in the way of shinobis. It's a weakness that must be discarded, just like the way he did with his own flesh. He had thrown it away, trading its flaws and emotions in exchange for an eternal, unflinching, puppet body. That way he won't have to feel anymore, no more pain, no more suffering.

The last time he had seen her, Sakura wasn't as lively and carefree. She was wilting, coughing out parts of her red life, a poisonous sword clutched deeply in a vital part of her stomach, the result of sacrificing herself to save Chiyo. Yet, somehow, she still cared more about another person's life.

"_Are you okay Lady Chiyo?" _Sakura had gently asked his grandmother, a stranger to her, and whom he had tried to kill._ "Please take the last antidote to heal the poison."_

"_You're dying and you still care about others? You're pretty tough." _Sasori tried to respond flatly, but he was getting frustrated.

Selflessness. That's another thing he couldn't quite grasp. Humans are naturally selfish, they live only for themselves. That's what he had always believed in. Why waste his time on such insolent individuals? Why give himself for those who only cared about themselves?

Humans are selfish and stupid, being consumed by their feelings like puppets on strings. And he wasn't anything like that. He's not just a mere puppet. He was also the master, and he controlled everything in his fingers.

And so he pretended that he was in control until the very last moment, he convinced himself that he actually decided to die, that he simply refused to dodge their last attack. But the truth is, he was caught off guard by the very emotions he had tried to abandon.

When Chiyo planted her final attack, conjuring up his very first creations- the puppets that resembled his deceased parents, he couldn't bring himself to evade it. He couldn't see the point of living anymore, but the thought of having the visage of his mother and father close to him in his last moments was enough comfort. If he could choose which way to die, it would be by their side, in their embrace, just like the way he had always longed for since he was a child.

The last time he had seen the pink-haired kunoichi was the first time in years he felt like a human again, capable of feelings and emotions, though he couldn't comprehend them fully. He imagined his beloved parents fighting in war, sacrificing their lives to save faceless strangers whose lives were as equally precious for someone else.

Sasori now sat in the stairs at the entrance, overlooking the festival. Naruto and Sakura were walking side by side when fireworks lit the night sky. The redhead was unfazed but the young couple gazed at it with awe before cheerfully engaging in small talk like they have all the time in the world. Seeing them peacefully enjoying the little things in life somehow made Sasori glad that they had survived instead of him, although she was already willing to die that fateful day.

"_I will get you!" S_he had screamed at the top of her lungs._ "Blow my limbs off and poison me, I don't care what trick you pull. I'm gonna get you and force you to tell me all about Orochimaru!"_

That was the first time she had intrigued him. Before that all he wanted was to finish them off, but her fierce determination had him wonder, _what is it that pushes her to that kind of desperation?_ He knew back then that Konoha was pursuing Sasuke from Orochimaru's grasp. But what drives Sakura, as well as Naruto, to go so far that they were actually willing to die just to get him back? Sasori eventually found the answer- they were simply longing for love. He died from the same reason.

All his life he'd been thoroughly trained to be a rational shinobi, empty and devoid of emotions, just like his creations. He didn't want to admit to anyone, not even to himself, that up until his last breath all he ever wanted was to be wrapped within the arms of his parents. He died because he couldn't wait any longer.

Sasori suddenly realized why he was in that certain ghost festival. He was never a patient man, but he sat still, searching for more familiar faces in the crowd. And he was a boy once again, hopeful that they will finally return.

**A/N**

**Inspired by an omake in Shippuden episode 129, where Sakura and Naruto were in a festival featuring ghosts of deceased characters. There was a little SasoSaku moment (like 2 seconds lol) where Sasori and Sakura briefly crossed paths.**

**Also my first attempt on fanfiction, and writing in general, after more than 8 years, if anyone cares.**


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